


Time For a Change

by NightyFox



Series: Time For a Change [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Salt, felinette - Freeform, ml salt, transfer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25186339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightyFox/pseuds/NightyFox
Summary: Lila won.Marinette lost.Her classmates hate her.And she?She's had enough.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Felix Culpa
Series: Time For a Change [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824550
Comments: 52
Kudos: 799





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The Characters and the original plot of the series don't belong to me, they belong to JEREMY ZAG AND THOMAS ASTRUC.

She did it.

Lila won.

The declaration she made, which Marinette challenged with her own, came true.

A few lies here and a few lies there, and suddenly, Marinette was all alone.

At first, Lila turned against Marinette the people she associated the least with, such as Kim or Ivan. Then she moved on to bigger threats, Alix, Rose, Mylene, and such. And last but not least, she moved onto the bosses. Alya, Nino, Adrien. It was surprising how fast she managed to turn them against Marinette.

One day, she had the best time of her life with them, the next.. Well.. She sat alone in the back of the class again.

What was the most cruel was that she had no idea what she did. It was different every time she asked. How did Lila manage to lie so many times without Marinette noticing? A true master manipulator. Alas, Marinette lost everything, just like Lila promised.

What was worse, was that her classmates, her very own ~~friends~~ ex-friends, chose to mock her every chance they got. Throwing ‘funny’ comments and remarks whenever she said something or made a small mistake, ‘accidentally’ tripping her and then making fun of her. Later, they even moved onto using insults.

She often wondered, how could they just forget about their friendship like nothing? Some friends they were… They didn’t even ask her when they heard about whatever lie Lila told them about Marinette. They just chose to accept it.

‘Hey, your friend, the one who cried when watching lion king? The one who put everything out there for you? The one who was always there for you? Yeah, she is a big asshole, don’t talk to her.’

‘Lol, didn’t know that. What a bitch.’

Marinette often found herself wondering why did it have to be Lila who won that stupid sperm race.

At first, she fought back. She tried to tell them, to show them the truth. To save them from the hole of lies that Lila kept on digging deeper and deeper. But it seemed like every time Marinette threw them a rope, they cut it down. They merely dismissed her words and reasons with a plain “You are just jealous”

She wasn’t.

It was after a month or so of her trying her best to prove what Lila has been doing that she gave up.

First came the sadness, she felt like a complete wreck for an entire month of their harassment. She spent her days in school just trying not to break down in front of anybody and trying to prove her honesty and innocence, and her time home was spent letting that bent up sadness out.

Then came the numbness, after shedding so many tears the girl wondered how she wasn’t dehydrated yet, she felt emotionless. Her time in school consisted of trying to ignore her peers and listening to the lessons. Every insult, every remark, every comment, she chose not to respond. Perhaps, they would stop? Seeing the girl having no reactions, they were bound to get bored, weren’t they? And even if they didn’t, so what?

She deserved it anyway.

But now, oh, now she felt nothing but anger. Every word they said, it only irritated her, annoyed her. And soon, she came to realize the thing that would help her get over everything that happened.

She hated them. She realized the hot feeling in her chest every time she saw one of them was not out of anxiety or fear, no. She was infuriated. Every breath, every word – even if it wasn’t aimed at her, it annoyed her.

But at least she was over it. Looking back at the person she was two and a half months ago, she could only say one thing. Pathetic.

Only now did she realize that her friends were not actually who she thought they were.

Her once best friend, Alya Césaire. The girl who she shared almost every secret with, who she considered her own family, her sister. The girl who she would bring pastries for every morning before class for free. The girl who she gave numerous gifts she made herself, mainly dresses and outfits, free again. The girl who didn’t even think twice before throwing Marinette to the curb like some trash after hearing one lie about her. From a complete stranger’s mouth.

Her classmates that she had known since elementary. Those who should know her like nobody else in the class. Those who should know Marinette would never hurt anybody, not even when being bullied since fifth grade. Those who now trip her on purpose in class. Those who throw accusations her way before Lila even spoke of the culprit, immediately accusing her.

And her once crush? Oh, Adrien Agreste. Who proved to be nothing but a coward towards Marinette. She at first admired how calm he seemed and even accepted his idea of “Taking the high road” because “As long as it’s not hurting anybody, it’s fine”. Of course, being the lovesick teen she was back then, she immediately agreed. But seeing that, even though he knew Lila was just a liar, even though he heard the other classmates talking behind her back, gossiping about her, about something Lila said she did, about something she definitely didn’t actually do…

He did nothing.

Often even going out of his way to make sure _Marinette_ wouldn’t do anything. Seeing him just standing by, while she was getting expelled because of something Lila accused her of, of something that wasn’t true. And he knew it wasn’t.

He did nothing.

No, it was Marinette who had to reach out to him. Begging for help while everybody had been looking at her like they would at a criminal.

Even her own parents.

He did help her get back to school, claiming that he made Lila fix everything.

He fixed nothing.

When she returned to school, she almost wished she just remained expelled. Things weren’t the same from then on. Even though Lila said she had a lying disorder, everybody seemed on edge with Marinette. Even though she herself said that she can’t control her lies, nobody missed a beat in believing everything the girl said afterwards, or beforehand.

And that’s how Marinette ended up where she is now. In the back row, alone, with the whole class throwing glares her way when they spotted her.

Did she care?

Not anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Characters and the original plot of the series don't belong to me, they belong to JEREMY ZAG AND THOMAS ASTRUC.

Many would scoff at the idea of Marinette Dupain-Cheng waking up on time, early even, and making it to school before anybody else. They would laugh, dismissing it with a quick “Yeah, right.”

Marinette herself was surprised at first, but turns out when you don’t spend your days working on gifts and favors for your friends, you have a lot more time for yourself and to get a good night’s sleep. Finally being able to follow a proper schedule she mentally had and getting to bed at an appropriate time was a beautiful experience.

She finally understood what was always keeping her on her feet all the time. It wasn’t the fact that she was Ladybug. An akuma happened barely once or twice a week. It was the fact that she had always wanted to please her friends. She recalled how they often came to her asking for a small favor, that favor later developing into a full-day project. And of course, she has always wanted her friends to know she cared for them, so she put everything she had into the work for them, she put every bit of love into it, which led to her often being too caught up in her work to remember she had two homework assignments for the upcoming day, or that it was already 2 AM and she had to get up in five hours for school.

She never received payment, of course. They were her friends, after all!

Today, she would fix that mistake. For a few days back, Alya approached her for the first time in months with a smile.

_“Hey, Marinette? Could you make a dozen of chocolate cupcakes and a dozen of vanilla cupcakes for me?”_

Marinette wanted so badly to scoff at Alya that day. Of course the girl would harass her every day, but once she needed something, she would come to Marinette acting like they were buddies again.

_“Sure”_

She didn’t half-ass them, no, she couldn’t. As much as she would’ve liked to put flour, eggs, sugar and many more ingredients into a box and hand it over, labelling them as Do-It-Yourself Cupcakes, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. So, she did the next thing that came to mind.

Instead of making complicated cupcakes, decorating them with care and styling them according to her classmates prefferables and likes, she did basic Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes with appropriate frosting her bakery normally served, not even bothering to put sprinkles. In fact, all the sprinkles and extra decorations she always made were an addition made by her. Now, she made the cupcakes how she would to any other customer; according to the bakery’s recipe.

She grabbed the box of cupcakes from the big refrigerator where they stored cakes and such. She kissed her parents’ cheeks as a goodbye and made her way to school. She waited for Alya to come into the class to hand her the boxes. She was the fourth person to enter and Marinette immediately made her way towards her, putting the boxes on the girl’s desk.

Seeing Alya’s face once she opened the boxes and saw the plain-looking cupcakes, Marinette did everything she could to not laugh in her face. The girl immediately started blowing a fuse, yelling at Marinette for making the wrong order. Said girl remained calm throughout the whole commotion.

“I didn’t compromise your order. In fact, this is the time I actually followed the proper template for making these cupcakes.” Alya rolled her eyes.

“Every time I wanted cupcakes before, they were always so pretty, I didn’t order this!”

“Yes, you did.”

“Oh my god, is this about Lila again? You purposefully wanted to ruin our picnic, didn’t you?”

Marinette blinked twice before answering.

“You never specified for what purpose I am making those cupcakes, therefore I couldn’t possibly ruin them out of some jealousy, as you claim.” Marinette’s corner of her lips twitched upwards for a second when Alya realized she just spilled the beans that the class was going to have a picnic without her.

That, or just because she realized Marinette was right.

She didn’t care which was the reason.

The class was half full by then, they all stared at the duo exchanging the goods that were meant for their little picnic. Noticing the state of the cupcakes and Alya’s expression, they came to her aid.

“That is so uncool, Marinette…”

“Yeah! Normally, these would be decorated like a pro! You didn’t even try!”

“This is low, Marinette. Even for you.”

The old Marinette would’ve flinched at their accusations, started defending herself while being at the brink of tears. The old Marinette would apologize immediately and promise them to bake another four dozens of cupcakes.

But not this Marinette.

This Marinette was done.

“As I said before, I was simply following the bakery’s basic instructions to Vanilla Cupcakes and Chocolate cupcakes. Google it.”

The looks on their faces were priceless. They didn’t have anything to say back, they were left speechless. The angry expressions on their faces didn’t disappear, though. And they had no idea what Marinette was going to do next. They weren’t prepared for what she was going to _say_ next, and that fact made Marinette smirk mentally.

“Now, onto the most important part-” She turned back to Alya and handed her a small paper, “That will be 42 Euros, Alya.” The face Alya made- no, no, no, that wasn’t it. The faces everyone made was a priceless sight to see.

“WHAT?!” Alya yelled, taking the paper from her hands. It was actually a receipt, stating the bakery’s price for a dozen of standard-sized vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting and a dozen of standard-sized chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Printed boldly at the bottom of the paper, the price of 42.08 Euros. Alya looked up at Marinette with her eyes furrowed and Marinette could swear that she saw a vein about to pop on her forehead. “Are you kidding me?!”

“As I am not wearing a red nose and face paint, you can assume that I am serious.”

The class once again erupted in an uproar of insults aimed at Marinette’s pettiness. Comments about being jealous about them spending time with Lila rather that with Marinette, at which Marinette rolled her eyes. Did they not hear that she had no idea about their dumb picnic until today? They really were thick-skulled.

“You never charged for them before! Just because Lila is going to be there, you suddenly change your mind?! That is so spiteful!”

“In fact, I don’t care what you plan to do with those cupcakes, nor do I care who is it for.” She stared into the brunette’s eyes without any emotion, clearly meaning each and every word. Alya was taken aback by that. “I may have let you of free before, sure, but that was when I let you walk all over me. When I let you use me to get free stuff.” Marinette felt slight guilt saying that. Not because of Alya or the other classmates, but because she remembered once again how much money all those orders she did for free must have cost her parents. At least now she could do things the right way. Before Alya or anybody else had a chance to resume the game of Who Can Yell The Loudest, she grabbed her phone from her purse. “Now, I could listen to you having a childish rant about not wanting to pay for what you ordered, or I could easily just call the police and let them handle the situation. Or you could just pay like you should and end this whole ordeal.” She smiled at them. “I would highly recommend just paying me now, I really don’t want to bother the officers with something as ridiculous as this.”

The class was in utter silence, nobody could believe what they were hearing. Was Marinette really willing to call the police over something like so…small?

“This is ridiculous… You never charged before, you can’t charge me now!” Alya exclaimed, breaking the silence in the class. Marinette sighed, clearly disappointed by the chosen answer.

“Very well then, I didn’t really expect it to have to come to this. Oh well..” She proceeded to unlock her phone and go into dial. Alya’s eyes, as well as the eyes of everybody else, immediately widened.

“Wait! I’ll pay for the stupid cupcakes.” Smiling, she put her phone away.

“I’m glad we were able to settle this like adults, Miss Césaire.” Alya was dumbfounded. She couldn’t believe who Marinette turned out to be. She couldn’t believe how petty she was. She silently thanked Lila for revealing the horrible person Marinette really was.

After Alya handed Marinette the money, which she had to borrow from the other classmates, Marinette finally left to get to her seat. Profanities and glares were thrown her way, labelling her as the ultimate baddie. Marinette saw Adrien out of the corner of her eyes, looking at her disapprovingly, like she had disappointed him somehow. From that day on, the class will hopefully no longer ask for any favors.

If Marinette’s memories were labelled in colors like in the movie Inside Out, this memory would surely come out as a yellow one. She couldn’t help but laugh at her classmates’ denseness. Paying for the things you buy was a lesson every little kid knew. If there was one word she would call them that moment, it would be entitled.

The alarm rang, signalling the beginning of the first class. Marinette composed her thoughts and focused on the teacher as she explained the topic of the lesson.

Soon, it was lunchtime. Marinette had long stopped paying for the school lunch and instead went home every day to eat.

“Hello maman.” She kissed her mother’s cheek upon arrival. Setting her school bag aside, she went to her mom and helped her with cooking lunch.

She ate her lunch silently with her mom, her father being out delivering one of their orders.

“So, how was school, Sweetie?” Her mother suddenly spoke up, which startled Marinette a little bit. Her mother never asked about her school lately; Marinette told her it was pointless, seeing as it was pretty much the same everyday.

When she was expelled, her parents didn’t know what to think. They were confused when Marinette opened her locker and found the stolen amulet. They knew their daughter would never do anything like that, but then, what was going on?

Later that day, when they got back home, they sat Marinette down and asked for her side of the story. They reassured her that she can tell them anything that has been going on, that they know that she would never do any of those things. She told them everything that day, everything from when she came into the school until her expulsion. They hugged her and comforted her as she cried in their arms.

Ever since that day, they no longer believed the school higher-ups. Lila had the audacity to come into their bakery one day, full of tears, stating that Marinette had been bullying her because of her relationship with Adrien Agreste. They were both angry as soon as the teen opened her mouth, immediately understanding why Marinette had been so infuriated with the girl. Not wanting the girl to bring any trouble to their daughter, they acted like they couldn’t believe their ears and sent her home to ‘calm down’. They told Marinette about the encounter right after she left.

“Umm… Usual, I guess. I had a fight with Alya, actually.” At that, her mother raised an eyebrow. “Remember those cupcakes I made? Vanilla and Chocolate?” Her mother paused, recalling the previous day where Marinette baked two dozens of cupcakes.

“The ones you made yesterday? Yeah… Did she do something to them?” Marinette shook her head.

“She was the one who ordered them, actually. And you know how I made cupcakes in the past for them?” Her mother smiled sadly at the girl.

“How could I not, you spent almost three hours just making sure they were perfect and decorating them.”

“Well, they never asked that I make exactly what I did, I always did that to show them how much they mean to me.” Her mother reached out and stroked her daughter’s hand. “Alya just said she wanted Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes, so I just made the them by the bakery’s template. She wasn’t so happy about that.”

“Was she expecting more...?”

“She started yelling at me. Saying that she ordered something else, that I messed up the order on purpose. I didn’t, of course.” Taking a bite out of her food, she brought her fork up and made a proud pose. “But being the responsible teen that I am, I handled the situation calmly and told her that it was exactly what she ordered.” Her mother chuckled at her daughter’s playful dramatization even though she was explaining an uncomfortable experience. “I didn’t want to continue the conversation longer and the class was starting soon so I had to move on to another part.” Sabine couldn’t help but notice a flash of guilt in Marinette’s eyes, which made her worried. “I… Am sorry that I never made them pay for their orders, maman.” Her mother grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

“Don’t blame yourself, Marinette. You have a good heart. You just wanted to please your friends. It’s okay. We understand.” Marinette smiled gently at her mother and continued with her story. Sabine couldn’t help but notice a glint in Marinette’s eyes.

“Well, I fixed that mistake today.”

“You made Alya pay for it?”

“Yup. You should’ve seen their faces. They didn’t expect me to want money for it.” Marinette chuckled slightly. “Everybody immediately protested. Saying that I never charged them before. It seemed to me like they refused to back down until I said they didn’t have to pay.” Sabine looked shocked at that. She knew that her classmates’ view of her daughter changed with Lila’s lies but… They couldn’t possibly become this entitled. Her daughter didn’t deserve people like that in her life.

“And… Did she pay you in the end?”

“Well… I told her that she can either pay me or explain it to the police…” She scratched her neck when she said that. Sabine’s motherly instincts rang inside her head to assure her daughter in her decisions.

“You handled that well, Marinette. If somebody doesn’t want to pay for your services, calling the authorities is never not appropriate. That is important to know when you enter the world of business.” Marinette smiled at her mother gratefully, thanking her for her support. She knew she was talking about the future, that her mother believed she would someday have her own business in fashion.

“In the end, she paid me, so it’s all good.” She finished her story, just like she finished her food. The timing was perfect. She stood up to wash the dishes since her mother finished eating a while before her.

“Anything else happening at school recently?”

“Nothing I can think of.” Her mother nodded, though she couldn’t see that.

“Well then, It’s time to bring out the good news, I guess.” In curiosity, Marinette turned around with a mug in her hand, continuing to wash it carefully so she didn’t get any water on the ground. “We received a mail today. From École des Beaux-Arts.” Before she even finished the name, Marinette already dropped the mug, staring at her mother in shock.

“Does that mean…” Her beloved mother only smiled at her in response, walking around her and reaching for something in one of the drawers. She brought up an envelope, showing the stamp on it before proceeding to give it to her. Marinette took it with slightly trembling hands. This was, after all, a letter that would decide Marinette’s future from then on.

Ever since Marinette got falsely accused and expelled from her school, her parents had been searching for a school she could attend. Even after Marinette got back, her parents refused to let her stay in such corrupted school.

She slowly opened it, her mother waiting patiently for the girl to read the announcement.

_Mademoiselle Marinette Dupain-Cheng,_

_The school has received Your letter regarding the possibility of your transfer._

_I have to inform you that transferring to a school this late into the year often proves to be difficult, both academically, should the student be accepted and faced with the abrupt change in educational progress, and formally, for the requirements are much more strict due to the obvious lack of other students willing to apply at given time. If your decision remains the same after being aware of these conditions, the requirements for your transfer are given below:_

_An essay* reaching the minimum of 2500 words on why should we accept your transfer;_

_Portfolio showcasing some of your finest work – how much you choose to present is up to you, but the more material we have, the better._

_Most importantly, sending the documentation from your previous school; Your school record, grades & competitions you were a part of, Attendance. These are the three pillars of importance you need to look out for to be accepted._

_And at last, an interview; One of our school counselors will reach out to you shortly after we receive all of the above._

_Should you be accepted, bear in mind that you will be required to take placement tests due to the difference in the academic pursue of your current school and École des Beaux-Arts._

_As for your question about our scholarship system; We provide scholarships to students with exceptional talent and academical position. We do not provide a list of requirements, for talent cannot be forced, but recognized._

_Further information will be provided after your future in our school is decided._

_Sincerely,_

_The vice-principal of École des Beaux-Arts,_

_Adeline Bisset_

Marinette stared wide-eyed at the letter, her expression unchanging. Until she laughed and hugged her mother. Releasing her mother from the hug, she started summarizing what she read but her mother stopped her.

“We received a letter of our own, seemed quite weird at first since not many schools inform the minors and usually consults everything through the parents. They treat their students as equals, it seems.” With each information gained about the school, Marinette was getting more and more excited to have a chance to study there.

She squeaked and hugged her mother again. Sabine, startled by the sudden tackle, fell to the ground with Marinette still holding her in a tight hug.

It was at that exact moment that Tom chose to walk in, back from the delivery.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette defends her reputation and I destroy mine.

Ever since receiving the letter from École des Beaux-Arts, the life in the Dupain-Cheng household has been pretty hectic.

Sabine and Tom, although believing in their daughter’s great talent, began taking on more difficult orders in case the scholarship wouldn’t be granted. They wanted the best for their daughter, and were determined to do anything to make that girl’s smile permanent. The tuition wasn’t the lowest, but they could manage to pay for it. Granted, they might not be able to go on a vacation when summer strikes as they normally would, but that was the price they were willing to pay to ease the troubles their daughter had been having in the past couple of months.

Marinette, on the other hand, had been locked in her room for the majority of her days. Going outside was either because of school, or because her other persona was needed in the streets of Paris. Occasionally, she also helped out in the bakery, noticing her parents’ obvious effort in making more money for the tuition. But she was still focused on her studies the most.

Her classmates noticed the sudden change in the ravenette’s mood. Going from the straight-faced ‘I don’t care’ attitude to one reminding them of the old Marinette. Of the Marinette that wasn’t a bully. Of their Everyday Ladybug.

At first, they were hopeful that she finally came to her senses. That she finally chose to drop the jealousy and realized that Lila is actually not as bad as she thought. They even approached the girl with hopeful smiles on their faces, acting as if there were never any problems between them. Their faces fell right after the smile on Marinette’s face turned into a disgusted gesture and she asked them harshly what they wanted.

After a bit of a fight happening, they returned to their seats. They were curious as to why their class’ newest bully appeared so happy all of a sudden, but shrugged it off. They shouldn’t care about her, she didn’t deserve their attention. Not until she changed her attitude.

For Marinette, nothing has changed in school. There were still the occasional attempts to trip her as she minded her business in school, the occasional fights, and so on, so on. As the days continued, though, she became more and more excited to be out of the school. She was almost finished with the essay and she was satisfied with her portfolio.

Now, only to retrieve the school documents.

Sabine made her way through the empty school as quickly as possible, choosing to evade any encounter with her daughter’s soon to be ex-classmates. She swiftly made her way towards the headmaster’s office and entered after hearing a brief ‘come in’.

“Ah! Good afternoon, Madame Cheng. How may I help you?” Mister Damocles seemed surprised to see her, she noticed.

“Good afternoon, Monsieur Damocles. I apologize for not calling the school first, but this is a matter I hope will be handled quickly.” She started politely, although she wanted to scream at the corrupted headmaster for everything that he let happen to her daughter. But she knew better. “I came here to retrieve my daughter’s files. All of them. And hand in the documentation about my daughter’s transfer, as she will no longer be attending this school.” The headmaster’s face immediately switched to a shock. Clearing his throat, he calmly asked why her daughter doesn’t want to attend the school anymore. Sabine smiled sweetly.

“Well, there are many reasons. The school she will attend is giving my daughter more opportunities to pursue her future career than your school ever did. The programs they offer are simply perfect for our daughter. And of course, they really prioritize their students, their privacy, and most importantly, their security. Which is something I recall your school is greatly lacking, seeing as you expelled my daughter without even checking the security cameras or neglected how my daughter has been bullied for the majority of her school days here. So, the real question is for me; why didn’t I let my daughter transfer out of this school earlier?” The headmaster was flabbergasted, staring at the parent with a bit of sweat pouring down his forehead as he realized the truth behind the woman’s words.

“So, the documents, please?”

“Of- Of course. Erm” Begrudgingly, the headmaster reached into the appropriate cupboard where the students’ folders were kept and, after a little bit of searching, pulled out a slightly full folder labeled “Dupain-Cheng” and gave it to Sabine.

“Thank you, Monsieur Damocles, and goodbye.” Hearing the door close and the sound of footsteps slowly retreating, he sighed out and turned to do the appropriate paperwork. The teacher would be notified after the classes are over.

Sabine made her way outside just as the school bell rang. Sighing in relief, she swiftly went towards the bakery, missing the curious stares of a few students coming out of the school.

\--

The documents, along with the essay and the portfolio, were sent the exact same day they were retrieved. The family waited patiently for a response, with Marinette finally taking a breather and only helping out in the bakery to relax. She didn’t worry about school anymore ever since her mom retrieved her folder from them.

Honestly, when she saw her mom with her folders in her hands, she felt immediate relief. She had no idea how much she dreaded coming to Francois Dupont until she felt the happiness from leaving. The documents were a sign. A sign that it was finally over. A sign that she was about to start anew.

A sign she was more than happy for.

She wondered, was there any other solution to this problem? Was there any other way she could’ve handled this ‘Lie-la situation’?

She would never know. But if this solution was the one to bring her a normal life again, she was more than happy to take it.

“Marinette? There’s a customer in the bakery.”

“On it, maman!” Putting her apron away, she entered the bakery to come face to face with a blonde woman. She smiled politely. “Good afternoon, Madame. How may I help you?” The woman smiled in response, offering her a hand to shake.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, correct?” Marinette nodded and took her hand, “I’m Elaina Callier, one of the guidance counselor of École des Beaux-Arts. I will be the one to interview you.” Marinette looked shocked. She didn’t expect the sudden appearance. She wasn’t prepared! She was covered in flour and her hair was a mess, she was sure she had a fork stuck somewhere in her hair- it was a terrible first impression.

“I- Em- Oh! Em- I am so, so sorry. I didn’t know you were supposed to arrive today! I must’ve not gotten the email or perhaps, it must’ve fallen into spam…”

“Do not worry, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. My arrival wasn’t announced to you. In fact, I am not here to interview you yet.” Marinette stopped her mumbling, turning to face the woman with a confused expression.

“Oh… You’re not?” The woman chuckled.

“I’m sorry if I caused your panic. I was going to contact you and arrange the date, time and place of the interview. But I planned to come to your bakery anyway.” Said girl smiled and waved it off.

“Oh- I understand.” The two then talked about an appropriate date and settled with meeting two days later in a small café close to the school she was hoping to attend. After giving the woman what she wanted, which was precisely twenty rolls and four croissants covered in chocolate.

When Marinette told her parents, they were confused as to why was the meeting place not the school, which Marinette realized is a good question.

The days leading up to the day were excruciatingly slow but when the day came, Marinette couldn’t be more excited. And more nervous.

She wasn’t sure which was dominating.

She passed by the café a few times when helping her parents deliver something, but never actually went inside. It was a small but cozy café with only about ten tables inside. She was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a cat-themed café, meaning that there were numerous cats and kittens inside available for the customers to pet and cuddle with. The overall design of the café was warm, intended to be as if you were in a modern cottage.

She spotted the blonde woman already inside with a cup of coffee in her hand and a small kitten on her lap. She made sure she looked presentable and made her way towards the woman. She looked up upon hearing the chair in front of her screech and smiled kindly at the young girl. They greeted each other and began discussing the school as soon as the waiter took Marinette’s order.

“First things first, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable here. I don’t want this to feel like an interrogation. It is far from it. This is only a formality that needs to be done. Consider this more of a… Friendly talk rather than a professional meeting, please. We are both equal here.” The woman seemed to be really kind and talkative. Marinette could sense a calming aura around her, which instantly made her feel relaxed.

“Now, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, we don’t often get any request to transfer in the middle of the school year, what made you switch schools and join us?” The waiter brought back Marinette’s order, hot chocolate with marshmallow and cinnamon. She thanked him before responding.

“Well… There were some problems with my old school that made us consider transferring. Then I stumbled upon your school and once I read more about it, I found out it’s actually better than my old school. It would help me actually improve my skill in designing and sewing. With the courses provided, I would be able to focus on my future career.” The woman perked at the mention of her hobby.

“So you are passionate in fashion. How far would you say you are, skill based?” The girl nodded

“I’ve been designing ever since I was young, at first it was just for fun, then I thought ‘why not try and make it’ and two days later, I was hanging around the bakery in my newly made dress.” The girl laughed, reminiscing the memory “Let’s just say I misunderstood the laughing of the customers as a form of a compliment. I worked hard to get better at designing as well as sewing and right now, I can say I am proud of how far I’ve come.” The woman smiled at the girl, taking sip of her own beverage before tapping away on her phone before sliding it over to Marinette.

“You know, I thought I heard your name somewhere before…” Taking a glance at the phone, Marinette slightly blushed as it revealed an article about Jagged Stone. Specifically, an article about the girl who designed Jagged Stone’s glasses, album covers and (as jagged himself revealed) even his clothing. “That was you, right?”

This is not bragging. You are not acting like Lila. This is a fact. This is your own, true, accomplishment. “Yes, that was me. After designing the glasses, Jagged Stone actually kept in contact with me and would occasionally commission me for some work. At first, it was just for a few ideas on his Albums, until it escalated and he asked me to make him a suit for a gala he was to attend. He’s been sending me commissions ever since.” The woman didn’t hide her awe. She was impressed by the girl’s accomplishments at such young age and wasn’t ashamed of letting it show.

“That’s really impressive. Do you work with any other celebrity like you do with Jagged?”

“Well, I do know a few, though I am not as close with any of them as I am with Jagged. I’ve worked with Clara Nightingale in the past, as well as Gabriel Agreste. Though, I cannot really count that as ‘Work with’, but I did win a contest of his and my work has been displayed in one of his fashion shows.”

“You have a lot of accomplishments for somebody so young. From what I’ve seen on the internet, you have an impressive amount of talent, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. Our school would be honored to call you our student.”

That was it.

Marinette felt like she could die right then and there.

From happiness, of course. And perhaps shock or even relief. In that moment, all the anxiety she felt in the past couple of months, weeks, hours, just vanished. Or perhaps, her mind just pushed it aside for a little while. She didn’t care at the moment. She was just glad.

“But before we move on, there is something we must discuss.”

And just like that, it was back. Madame Callier put on a serious face as she pulled out a file from her bag. Marinette nodded when the woman looked up, indicating to keep going. “Your grades are flawless, you were really one of the top students at your previous school. And while your attendance is tainted with a lot of late, it is nothing to hold against you, seeing as it did improve in the last couple of months. But,” She slid the file over to Marinette, turning it upside down so that the girl could actually read it’s content. As soon as Marinette’s eyes read the first couple of words, she felt the anxiety in the back of her mind amplifying.

There, on her school report, was the incident from the previous year.

_There had been numerous reports regarding Marinette Dupain Cheng and her fellow classmate, Lila Rossi. Marinette had been presumably bullying said classmate ever since the girl transferred from her home country. Various other classmates of theirs reported various acts throughout the year, worrying about the sudden change in Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng’s behavior. They confirmed that Lila often opened up to them about how Marinette had been treating her and demanded something to be done. It was until the second semester of the year did Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng step up her shameful acts._

_On March 20, Lila Rossi was seen at the bottom of the staircase, with Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng standing right at the top. Mademoiselle Rossi had been hurt in the process and her knee had to be taken care of by the school nurse. After calling Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng’s parents, Mademoiselle Rossi finally informed us about the situation that had been going on. Marinette had been verbally assaulting Mademoiselle Rossi repeatedly, until it slowly evolved into physical harassment._

_Mademoiselle Rossi also stated that Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng stole a family heirloom, which was later confirmed when it fell out of Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng’s locker._

_Such behavior couldn’t be overlooked and Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng was immediately expelled from the school._

She didn’t understand. How could this still be in her report? The whole thing had been exposed as nothing but Lila’s lie because of her supposed ‘Lying disorder’. Why was it still there? Was Lila going to actually follow her life everywhere she went? Was she going to actually lose her only chance at getting into the school because of Lila’s lies?

No, she couldn’t let it. She couldn’t let her.

She sighed and looked the woman in the eyes. She saw her eyes widen slightly before softening. And she could guess why. She could feel the tears in the corners of her eyes, but she did everything she could to push every ounce of sadness and fear back.

“I’m sorry. That- Everything in that report is a lie.” And so, she explained everything. She explained her whole situation in school- leaving out any unnecessary details, of course. She couldn’t let Lila win and let her ruin her chance.

She took notice of every change on Madame Callier’s face. Sympathy, anger, confusion. Those were the most prominent ones. Halfway through explaining, a small black kitty with a white dot in the middle of it’s forehead jumped onto her lap and purred. She had no idea whether it just randomly wanted to be petted or if it felt the girl’s sadness and came to her comfort.

Either way, she appreciated the little kitty and knew that if she were to come back, this kitty would surely be her favorite.

By the end of her little biography, both her and Madame Callier’s cups were empty and the kittens in their laps sound asleep.

“We will have to check this with your previous school, as well as your guardians before we remove that report from your card, but you don’t need to worry about it permanently being on there.” She assured with a small smile. “We had our doubts about the report when we first read it. There are too many holes in the story, as well as the lack of evidence. We will consult this with your previous school and further investigation will be done. If the school neglected something, we will contact the school board to investigate the whole school.”

“Thank you… You have no idea how much relief hearing this brings me…” The woman smiled and nodded slightly.

“We do not tolerate bullying of any sort at our school, which is why we were concerned about the report in the first place. I apologize for doubting you, but it is easy to put a mask on nowadays. We knew you mentioned bullying as one of the reasons you wanted to leave your school, but I had no idea how serious it was. I apologize for that. Rest assure that you won’t find such behavior at our school.” A tear escaped Marinette’s eye, which she quickly wiped away.

“Thank you, Madame Callier.”

“No need to thank me, dear.” Marinette smiled at the drop of formalities. After the heartfelt discussion, it finally felt more as a friendly talk than an interview. “We will still need to check the story with your guardians and your previous school. Not that I do not trust you, but we must follow standard procedures.” She put away the file before making some notes on her phone. The kitty in Marinette’s lap suddenly jerked up, stretching and moving to a more comfortable position.

“Why did we meet up in this café, anyway?” She mumbled, eyeing the kitty closely “I mean… Aren’t interviews usually taken care of on school grounds? In an office?” Madame Callier looked up from her phone.

“It is quite simple. Unauthorized people are not allowed on campus. We do not allow random people to walk onto the school grounds due to security reasons. We upgraded our security even more when Hawkmoth began terrorizing the city. And even without Hawkmoth, there are many dangerous people out there. You even mentioned one yourself just a moment ago. We intend to keep such people out of our school for the safety of our students. You and your parents will get permission to enter once you are a student of ours.”

Marinette nodded and Madame Callier went back to taking notes for a while, before switching her focus back to the girl. The two conversed for a few more minutes before they parted ways. As she was walking home, Marinette couldn’t help but feel as if a heavy burden had been lifted off of her shoulders.

She didn’t know whether it was because she was actually accepted, because she would no longer be in that toxic environment, because she would no longer have to worry about her own safety..

Or perhaps, because she finally opened up, and she had a place where Lila’s lies wouldn’t reach her.

After all this time.

She finally felt free.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ding dong  
> Ding dong
> 
> Are those bells?

Not even a week after Marinette met up with the school counselor, she received another letter stating the dates of her placement tests. They were each three days apart from one another, which she found nothing but stressing. While the days were intended to let students take their focus off of the test they just went through and review notes for their upcoming test, she spent those days trying not to explode from excitement.

She was glad that she made this decision this early into the year, otherwise she would probably struggle a lot more with catching up to their curriculum than she did now. Joining in the middle of the sophomore year would be a lot tougher than joining in the middle of the freshman year. From the information she was given on what to study, she was pleasantly surprised to find out that she knew the majority of it already! Which, to her relief, meant that she could take a breather for a while. She appreciated that a lot. After so many days of stressing out, she was happy to finally enjoy some time with her mom and dad playing Ultimate Mecha Strike III, helping them out in the bakery again and even just relaxing back in her room.

After her exams came a wave of freedom. Until her results came in, she would have nothing to do other than wait. And help her parents out in the bakery, of course.

“Thank you! Have a nice day!” Finally serving the last customer in line, Marinette took off her gloves and entered the bakery kitchen. Her parents were working on one of their long-term orders; A three layered cake with a lot of custom decorations that the client was very specific about. While her father worked on the foundation and the structure, her mother was stressing over making the details for the cake right.

“How’s everything going?” She asked after making sure her mom was not touching the small marzipan pieces of decoration she was working on. It seemed to be parts of very detailed flowers and leaves and she was finishing the final detailing on them, checking twice to make sure every piece made was properly decorated as the customer ordered.

“It’s a bit much, but nothing we can’t handle. Thank you so much for helping us out, sweetie.” Sabine smiled at her daughter tiredly. She sighed afterwards, turning her head down to finish checking the leaves before moving up and taking them to the main freezer.

“Are you sure I can’t help you with it? You seem like you could use some rest.” Shutting the freezer door tight and turning the handle, Sabine smiled at her before moving to her husband’s side and helping him straighten the white fudge on the cake.

“Marinette, you already helped us so much by taking care of the customers and making the majority of the decorations.” Tom answered, moving aside for his wife and helping her place the stretched fudge on the cake properly. “And you still need to finish the final touches on the dress. The wedding is in two days already.”

Oh, that’s right. Half a year back, their bakery was tasked with the catering for a slightly big wedding that was bound to happen on December 14th. Marinette, along with her parents, couldn’t be happier to find out that Nadja Chamack was going to remarry. After what happened with her past husband, they were worried she might never marry again, but here she was! Announcing not only her wedding, but their invitations along with Sabine’s task as a Maid of Honor and Marinette’s task as a bridesmaid. They accepted with a hug as they all congratulated their long-time family friend. Before she left the bakery, she asked them one more request; to cater at her wedding and prepare the cake. They immediately accepted and even offered a family discount since she was a close friend. After trying to disagree and failing horribly, she turned to Marinette with a request for a dress.

She found out that the Dupain-Chengs were all better at negotiating than her and left defeated with two family discounts on her list.

Marinette never knew she was even seeing somebody. Though, she did suspect something from the lack of babysitting requests, but she thought that Nadja hired a professional babysitter to take care of Manon. And even though she was sad at first for not getting to see Manon that often anymore (that little rascal had claimed a place in her heart), she was glad the little girl would finally have a father figure to look up to again.

She met the man when they came in to try out the flavors for the cake. He seemed like a gentleman at first, but after spending some time with him over dinner (yes, her parents invited the whole family over for supper), she found out that not only was he a gentleman, but a huge dork resided in his soul. She saw how he and Manon got along really well and how he made her and her mother seemingly happy. That was all she needed to know that he was a good man.

Marinette had enough time to plan both the wedding dress and her bridesmaid dresses – as the designer for the wedding gown, the bridesmaid dresses needed to match according to the style of the bride’s dress.

It was pretty easy to design the bridesmaid dresses, it was Nadja’s dress she was stressed about. After all, it was the first wedding dress she was going to be making. And it was for their long-time friend! She couldn’t bare to let Nadja down.

The first design was kind of a fail; she sketched a simple wedding gown with hidden underlayer of very faint pastel pink that matched the color of the flowers embedded along the center front of the dress. Sadly, she completely forgot about the wedding happening in winter and sketched the dress with short sleeves. Thankfully, Nadja told her not to stress about the dress that much and only asked for two small changes. The first one was obviously to make the dress appropriate for winter, as she did not want to freeze over while telling her vow. The second one was a color change, as the color pink was not the woman’s preference. She asked for it to be a shade of cream white instead.

Marinette, though slightly embarrassed for making the dress styled by her favorite color, changed the color and made the sleeves long, adding a furry bolero for her to cover herself with to provide more heat. Nadja approved of the changes.

Since she didn’t think about winter while designing the bridesmaid dresses either, she had to change them as well. She chose the bridesmaids to have hourglass sheath dresses of a shade of grey with the top layer being a see-through sparkling fabric. The grey layer had faint designs of white flowers to follow the wedding theme but still be vague. The dresses didn’t look right to her with long sleeves, so she only added the same white furry bodice as she did to Nadja’s wedding gown.

To top the looks off, she sketched the veil for the bride to be in the for of a flower crown, with the flowers being the same shade of cream white like the dress. The bridesmaids did not have a veil attached, but they did have their own flower crowns, only theirs were white and the petals were remarkably smaller. She was pretty bummed about not getting to make the bridesmaid dresses and having other designer make them, even the one _for her._ But she understood. And with the amount of work it took her to get the right materials and make the wedding gown, she was glad that she didn’t have to worry about making them in the end.

Alas, the bridesmaid dresses turned out great. After going to the designer for measurements and then the final fitting, she was satisfied with how the dress turned out. She thankfully didn’t have to pay anything (Nadja paid for all the bridesmaid’s dresses since they had to match), so she merely thanked the woman and went home to carefully put them away.

And while the bridesmaid dress took a while to make, she had it safely stored in her closet by the end of September. It looked wonderful and it fit her perfectly.

Anyway, back to the story where Marinette is leaving the bakery kitchen.

Glancing towards the bakery to see if there are any customers, Marinette takes off her apron and brings out a phone.

“…..Hello, Nadja! I’m just calling to ensure that you will meet with me for the final fitting today at four pm, is that correct?... Alright, perfect. Thank you…. Yes, they are. They will talk it over with you after the dress fitting. Okay, thank you. See you at four!” Hanging up, she sighed and poured herself a cup of coffee. Bringing it over to the bakery and slipping back into her apron, she put her phone on the counter and took a sip of her coffee, watching the people outside pass by their bakery door.

It was going to be a long day.

Somewhere around 1 pm, her parents emerged from the kitchen right as she was serving the last customer in line. She noticed her parents and gestured to the coffee machine nearby while she stepped around the counter and went to close the bakery for lunch break.

“Did you call Nadja about the dress?” Her mother asked, pouring herself and her husband a cup of coffee that Marinette prepared earlier. Marinette nodded and took off her apron, setting it aside and pouring herself a cup of coffee, too.

“I told her you would show her the cake after we do the fitting for the dress.” Sabine sighed with a smile

“What would we do without you?”

“Hired a worker, probably.” That earned her a slap on the shoulder. The family moved to their apartment and began preparing lunch. After their break was over, the trio went back into the bakery, with only Tom going back into the kitchen. Sabine stayed behind and made her way behind the counter, putting on an apron and going through the pastries to make sure every one of them is soft.

Marinette helped out for a while before her mother instructed her to go upstairs.

“We’ve got it handled from now, Sweetie. You can go upstairs.” Who was she to argue.

Thanking her mom and kissing her cheek in gratitude, she basically sprinted upstairs and into her room. As soon as she entered, she collapsed head-first onto the chaise.

“This is good.” She sighed in content “I’m gonna stay like this forever.”

“Marinette-” A scream could be heard coming from somewhere in Paris.

“Goddamn it.”

“See, this is why we can’t have anything nice.” Marinette muttered under her breath as she watched the akuma destroy the Eifell Tower (..again. Like, seriously, what’s with the akumas always going for the tower?).

“That’s where you’re wrong, M’Lady. Paris has the nicest heroine it can have.” Sighing in relief at the sound of her partner finally joining the fight, she jumped back to avoid getting hit by the akuma’s power and landed right next to Chat Noir.

“Nice of you to drop in. The akuma is in his headdress, don’t get caught by his vines. If you do, the more you move, the tighter they get. And watch out for getting hit, too. Some of them have thorns.” Before Chat Noir had a chance to respond, the akuma noticed his presence and rushed his vines at the both of them. They jumped sideways, splitting up to outrun the vines.

“Where are all these vines even coming from?” Ladybug wasted no time in responding, circling one of the vines with her yoyo, snapping it in half.

“The vines are actually his hair. He can control them and even snap them and grow a bunch of other vines if needed. I tried getting the all stuck but-” Dodging a wild vine, she ducked behind one of the chimneys. “-they just snapped off and regrew.”

“Do we know enough?” Ladybug nodded, even though he was too occupied with the akuma to actually see it, and called on her lucky charm. A pair of scissors.

“Well, he could certainly use a new haircut.” Groaning at his pun, like usual, she looked around for any ideas. It would be pointless to cut his hair when it could immediately grow back. There was nothing that would help her find out what she was supposed to do. At least not near the Eifell tower.

“Chat Noir! We need to lead him away from the tower.”

“You heard the lady. Come on big guy. Time for your gardener appointment.” The akuma growled and went after the two heroes. Ladybug kept searching for anything that would help her think of a plan. The akuma was fortunately focused on them and caused minimal harm to the citizens around. There weren’t many of them in the first place, anyway.

She kept glancing around, thinking about any possible plans to defeat the villain and get back to her lovely unfinished nap. (Not that it even started in the first place)

“I got you, now!” In her moment of un-focus, the akuma got a hold of her foot with one of his vines and yanked her towards him.

“Ladybug!” Reacting quickly, she grabbed the scissors and cut the vine that was holding her ankle, yanking her foot away from it. It worked and she was free of the vine, but she had no time to bring out her yoyo and crash landed on a nearby roof.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” A voice not belonging to her partner asked. She looked around and spotted a girl who seemed to be about her age. Her blonde hair were put in a long braid and she seemed to be wearing a pair of overalls with a simple purple t-shirt.

But that wasn’t important.

What was important was that she was mere meters away from the akuma battle.

“I’m fine, thank you. You need to get inside, quickly.” Standing up and spinning her yoyo, she turned around to protect the girl from the akuma in case it attacked them.

“Well, as much as I would love to hide in the comfort of my room, I can’t.”

Seeing the akuma preoccupied with her partner (Who seemed to be angrier than before she got thrown away), she faced the girl once more.

“I’m dirty.” Pushing aside any remarks that came to her mind at that sentence, she glanced at the girl and noticed her hands, boots and even some parts of her overalls covered in dirt and mud. “Plus, the door got stuck.”

Sighing, she glanced around at their surroundings and registered that the roof she got crashed into was actually a small roof top garden. It clicken in her mind that the girl must’ve been working in the garden and taking care of the plants when they decided to crash the party with the akuma.

Wait.

Garden.

Plants.

“Oh and you dropped this.” The lucky charm’s pair of scissors.

She smiled at the girl in determination.

“I have a plan, would you mind helping me?”

The akuma got easily angered once he noticed the spotted heroine destroying the lovely garden. And not only the weeds, the plants and vegetables. His focus switched immediately from Chat Noir to her, which was what she wanted. Once he was on the roof, Chat Noir resumed in distracting him. Once the akuma was near the storage shed in the garden, Ladybug smirked and grabbed a hose.

In a second, the akuma heard the snipping of scissors and felt his body get lighter. At the same time, he felt Ladybug tying him up with the hose she grabbed prior to the assassination on his hair.

“Kind of a dumb move.” He tried snipping the hose with his vines, but-wait. Where were his vines? Why weren’t they growing back? Glancing back, he saw a tan, blonde girl, holding a spray bottle.

“A mixture of salt, vinegar and water. We always have some of that around here.”

“Now, Chat Noir!”

“Cataclysm!”

In an instant, the akuma was defeated.

“What.. What am I doing here? Where am I?.. This… This isn’t my garden.”

The three fist-bumped. While Ladybug purified the akuma, Chat Noir took care of the victim and told him what happened. Ladybug smiled and turned to the girl.

“You did great! Not everybody would remain chill with us destroying their property, uh-..?” Noticing the implication, the blonde giggled.

“Allegra. And thanks, I would be pretty upset about this but this was for the greater good, so… It’s fine.”

Ladybug turned to Chat Noir, her earrings flashing that she only had two minutes left (But whatever, when did time work as it should for the miraculous). “Will you take care of the victim? I need to get going in a bit.”

“Of course, M’Lady.” He winked and, after kissing her hand lightly, Chat Noir took the previously akumatized victim and carried him to the ground floor, leaving the two girls alone.

“…”

“…”

“So.. Uh… Are you… Are you going to repair my garden, now, or…..”

“Oh! Right!”

When she finally arrived home, she was more than happy to resume her previous plans on napping until Nadja came over for the final fitting. She woke up a few minutes prior to her arrival to get everything ready and check the dress one last time.

The woman saw the gown on many occasions when she came over to check up on it and, on few occasions, drop off Manon when she and her fiancé had a date night. Nonetheless, Marinette was still nervous about showing her the finished version of the dress. She hoped the woman would be fully satisfied, since the wedding was in two days and there was no time to make big changes to it.

A knock came from the other side of her hatch at exactly 4 PM, and she was happy to invite the woman in. As soon as Nadja saw her dress, she froze. That stunt made Marinette freeze as well, her overreacting thoughts coming out from the deepest, darkest hole in her brain as she started apologizing for anything that might be wrong with the dress.

“Marinette.” She halted her words immediately, hands freezing in the position they were in when she was explaining certain parts of the dress. Nadja smiled at her, a tear visible in her eye. “It’s perfect.” She hugged the young designer she has known since her birth. Marinette came out of her shock, smiling softly at her and hugged her back. “Sorry if I made you worried.” She stated teasingly after releasing her from the bone-crushing hug.

“No worries. I’m pretty used to it. Speaking of; I think your daughter has your strength… Phew..” Nadja giggled as Marinette let out a puff of air. She then sighed and looked longingly at the gown.

“I just can’t believe it’s really happening.” Marinette looked at her curiously. “I mean, of course I know it’s happening, I just… It seems… Unreal. Like a dream.. You know?” She glanced at the girl.

Marinette didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. She didn’t need to. She knew the question wasn’t meant to be answered, it was merely rhetorical and it was more like the woman was admitting her emotions rather than asking for her input. She instead moved towards the divider and extended it, creating a temporary changing room.

“Time to try them on, then.”

Of course, Nadja liked them a lot. She actually cried once more after seeing herself in the mirror wearing them. And although Marinette couldn’t possibly understand the emotions the woman was going through at that moment since she never even had a boyfriend so marriage was far from the girl’s mind, she could imagine the love and happiness (and maybe.. pride?) flowing through Nadja’s heart. She once thought about what her marriage would be like, back when she had feelings for a very specific model, but that image in her head died a long time ago. Along with her feelings for the boy.

After making small changes on the dress, mostly tightening spots that were loose on Nadja’s body, the dress was done and could be marked off as finished. After letting the designer take pictures of the dress alone and on Nadja for her portfolio, Nadja paid the respective price for it and thanked her again.

“Nadja… You look… Perfect…”

The two turned sideways to a teary-eyed Sabine, poking into the room through Marinette’s hatch. Upon noticing their stares on her, the woman ascended the stairs and stood before the woman in white, slowly circling her and gently touching the soft fabric. Seeing this as her que to leave the two women to talk, Marinette quietly announced her exit and left the room, only grabbing her purse and her coat on the way out.

“Hey, papa. How’s the cake?”

“Almost finished. How’s the dress?”

“Finished.” She stated proudly.

“Good job, Sweetheart. Do you know where your mother is? She suddenly disappeared.”

“I think you can go and rest for a bit. She is upstairs with Nadja and.. I think it’ll take a while. I left them alone to talk.” Tom smiled at his daughter, ruffling her hair over the counter before noticing her outfit and purse.

“It’s Friday.” At that, his face suddenly lit up and he immediately packed two croissants into a paper bag, handing them to Marinette while kissing her forehead.

“Alright, have fun.”

“Will do, papa.”

As Marinette stepped out, she took a moment to embrace the coldness of December. Shivering slightly for a while, she took out her phone after feeling it vibrate in her purse. She smiled upon noticing the contact name and read it.

_I arrived earlier. Our usual table was occupied so I found another one. You will need to head the other way._

Walking quickly to get to warmth as soon as possible, she looked at the time. It was half past five, but since it was winter, the sun was long gone from the sky and replaced by the beautiful moon. Marinette enjoyed the winter in Paris. Apart from the cold, the snow-covered Paris illuminated by the Christmas lights from people’s windows and homes, along with the streetlights, it made it all seem magical.

Not even ten minutes later, she was standing inside a small restaurant that she, over the past few months, came to love and know like the back of her hand. She followed the instructions she was told and found her friend patiently waiting for her in one of the booths. When they spotted each other, they both immediately smiled at one another and waved.

Usually, they would sit outside while drinking their favorite juice, but ever since it became cold, the outside patio had been closed. Nobody would sit in the cold anyway. The beverages they normally drank changed with the seasons, too. They both preferred to order hot chocolate or coffee, depending on the energy levels of the two.

“Hey, Kagami! It’s good to see you!” Marinette greeted, sitting down and making herself comfortable in her seat.

After a year of Lila’s manipulations and Marinette’s loneliness, Marinette decided it was time to meet new people, meet new friends. She signed up for a friendship day contest in hopes of finding a new friend. Imagine her surprise when she got partnered up with Kagami, her former love rival.

Since she didn’t have any silly crush clouding her mind anymore (mainly, her opinions), she smiled warmly at the girl. It was all weird at first, the questions she asked and how she smiled at her. Nonetheless, she was determined to give the girl a chance. Together, they got through the contest rather quickly. She was actually pleasantly surprised at how well she and Kagami worked together.

They were even close to winning the contest! They just had to split up and take selfies with the other one’s phone. Marinette quickly took a simple, peace-sign selfie with a big smile. They quickly met back up and exchanged their phones back and Marinette was pleasantly surprised to see a smiling selfie of Kagami. Kagami’s phone rang, unfortunately, and her mother was not pleased with her daughter participating in a game for making friends. She got upsed and, sadly, akumatized.

Ikari Gozen somehow knew where her daughter was and appeared before them in an instant. Marinette tried to get Kagami out of the way and hide her, but her mother was too fast and strong. She pushed her aside with a mere shove and grabbed her daughter. Marinette tried to get the girl back from the akuma’s grasp, but her efforts were futile. She yelled at Kagami to hold on, and that she was going to get help for her.

After retrieving the miraculous and informing Longg of her plan, she delivered it to Kagami. If all went according to plan, the akuma could be dealt with in minutes.

Not even a minute after the delivery was made, Ikari Gozen fell over in pain, clutching her robo-stomach and releasing immense amounts of water. She collapsed afterwards, and with the water around slowly transforming into the newest heroine. She asked Ladybug of the whereabouts of her friend, which Ladybug reassured her that she was the one who alerted her and she got her to safety. After introducing the dragon hero, Ryuko, to Chat Noir, and taking care of Kagami’s mother, the two girls were off.

After the two of them regrouping as Kagami and Marinette, the two found out that the game had already ended. While Kagami seemed a little bummed about the loss, Marinette was quick to cheer her up and the two went for their first juice together. And as it turned out, it wasn’t their last.

The two talked over the juice and when Marinette asked Kagami about her strange behavior and her mother, she got a pretty sad backstory. She felt guilt for being suspicious of the girl at first, and felt even worse when she was told that Kagami had no friends and how her mother was strict about everything.

Needless to say, Kagami was proud to say that her mother wasn’t the only contact in her phone after that day.

Anyways, forgive the author for getting sidetracked, back onto the main storyline.

Kagami smiled at her friend as she sat down.

“Hello, Marinette. It’s good to see you, too.” The waiter came and took their representative orders, smiling at the familiar customers kindly before walking away. “Did your results came in yet?”

The ravenette shook her head slightly.

“Not yet, but they should arrive by the end of this week.”

“Don’t worry, Marinette. They would be fools to not accept you.” Kagami stated, noticing the slight grimace that presented itself on her friend’s face. She tried to be more empathizing to the emotions of others, especially her friends. She wanted to let others know she wasn’t emotionless or uncaring. It was still hard for her to notice when her friends were upset or realize when her words sometimes seemed a little harsh, but it was still a work in process.

Baby steps.

“Besides, I haven’t met anybody as devoted and as talented as you. I am telling you, they will accept.”

Marinette smiled in gratitude.

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” By then, the waiter came back with their orders, a simple hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream topped with chopped chocolate for Marinette and hot chocolate made of almond milk with whipped cream on top of it for Kagami. Marinette didn’t dislike the hot chocolate, it was really good, but growing up in a bakery meant a lot of homemade hot chocolate. And there was no hot chocolate in Paris that could ever top her mother’s. None.

Alas, what mattered was that she got to enjoy some quality time with her busy friend.

The two spent the next half an hour talking about anything that happened to them that the other doesn’t know about yet, bringing up what they saw on the internet, Marinette sharing the funny stories that happen with her customers, Kagami sharing her stories from fencing and business meetings, generally the two of them bonding over a cup of hot chocolate.

“Wait, it’s in two days? And you are not prepared yet?” Marinette giggled nervously. Was she supposed to prepare something?

“Well, I really don’t know what I should prepare for. I’ve never been to a wedding before.” She paused, suddenly looking lost in thought. “Maybe once. When I was a child… Hm..”

Kagami sighed.

“You said you are going to be a bridesmaid, no?” Marinette snapped out of her memory lane and nodded. “Bridesmaids are usually the ones to take care of the bride. Help her dress up, do her makeup and hair if there is no hairdresser hired for it. They are the pillars supporting the bride on the special occasion. Although… Are there any other bridesmaids?”

“Well, there are two other bridesmaids, with my mother being the maid of honor.” She nodded

“Then I guess they must’ve been the ones to help her plan the wedding and everything before the wedding. You could ask the bride yourself what is actually expected of you, but that’s up to you.” She took a sip of her beverage, finishing the cup. “Also, didn’t you tell me you were staying the night there with the other guests?”

A look of realization passed by the pigtailed girl’s face.

Then horror.

“I NEED TO PACK, DON’T I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5000+ words  
> 30.000+ characters
> 
> It's 1 past midnight
> 
> Why am I like this


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is embarrassed, I am ashamed of myself for updating so late.

“I… think that’s everything?” Marinette questioned quietly after checking that she had all the items on her ‘bring with me’ list… For the third time. After she got back from her meetup with Kagami the day before, she made the list of all the things she would need to pack. She wasn’t stressed about bringing clothing or something like that, but rather about an emergency sewing kit and such.

But wait, wasn’t the wedding supposed to be two days from the meetup? Marinette said so herself!

Yes, indeed she did. But she forgot about one thing.

You see, since her parents were asked to cater for the buffet of the wedding, they had to arrive earlier than all of the guests, including the groom and the bride. While the wedding itself was going to be on December 14th, it was going to start early in the morning – which meant a ton of things to prepare the day prior. Along with being asked to cater, the Dupain-Chengs also held the positions of a bridesmaid and a maid of honor, so they were going to oversee the preparations and make sure everything goes according to plan.

“Marinette! We’re leaving in 15 minutes! Make sure you have everything!”

“Yes, maman!” Closing the suitcase, she sighed in relief. Looking over at the bridesmaid dress, currently laid on her chaise in a garment bag, she started bringing her luggage downstairs. She struggled a little bit, more because of the maneuvering than the weight; She had been working out, after all.

She brought her luggage to the van they borrowed and placed it in the appropriate place and went around to the back to potentially help her parents with loading the cake into the van.

Why ‘Borrowed’, you ask? No? Well, I’m gonna tell you anyway.

The bakery they bought a long time ago wasn’t originally a bakery. Her parents built the bakery from scratch and were happy with the results. At the time, it didn’t even matter to them if the place was small; they were just starting out and were barely known. Even as they became well-known, their customers commented that the bakery was warm and welcoming. The downside was that the building had no garage, which was becoming a problem with their rising number of orders. Thankfully, her parents were grateful for a friend of theirs that provided delivery services. They cooperated on big deliveries and often shared a part of the income. Thus, their problem was solved.

After helping her parents move the cake and many, many pastries, desserts and many more heavenly sweets for the buffet, the family got into the van and begun their two hours long way to the wedding venue.

When they arrived, it was already 10 AM and the workers there were already hard at work. Even though they were present for probably about 3 hours, the venue was barely decorated – but that was acceptable, given the space they were working with. Nadja, being a successful reporter, had met a lot of people in her life and made a lot of friends along the way. It was to be expected that the wedding was going to be big. And by big, we mean Castle of Esclimont big.

From what Marinette saw, chairs and tables outside were already set up randomly with people moving them to find the perfect placement and there were boxes of decorations waiting to be opened. The place was already being decorated with fake and cold-withstanding flowers to give in to the theme of the wedding. The family made their way into the castle, where the rooms for the guests of the wedding were supposed to be.

“Alright, Marinette. If you need us, we will be helping out with the decorations.” Her mother smiled gently, walking out of the room with her husband in tow.

Marinette looked around the room, taking in the details of it. The design of the walls, floor and furniture reflected the style of the building. It held the feeling of being in a royal bedroom. The furniture, while new and modern, was styled in a way that basically screamed ‘history’. But as traditional, antique, old-fashioned, however you may call it, as it was, the hand of modern technology did not just pass by the area without leaving something behind. There was a safe in the corner of the closet, a TV opposite of the bed and the bathroom the room was adjacent to was fully modern.

Which was completely understandable. As much as the old-time look of it all made Marinette admire the building, she (and, probably, everybody else) would certainly not want to pee in a bucket.

Checking the hallway in case her parents forgot something, she closed the door into the room and approached her bed, where she opened her suitcase.

“You can come out, Tikki.”

Tikki immediately flew out of her chosen’s pocket and looked around, darting to every corner of the room. Marinette let her kwami search for a hiding spot while she upacked a few of her things. She didn’t know how long they were going to stay, but if things all went according to plan, they would leave the day after the wedding. She didn’t want to unpack all of her things in case she wouldn’t even use them. She unpacked her hygiene products, her pajamas and casual clothes, putting them into the built-in closet next to the bridesmaid dress.

Last, she brought out her sewing kit and laid it next to the door, where it was easy to find and reach in case of a fashion emergency. Nothing could ruin such a special day. And nothing would.

Marinette could only hope that Hawkmoth wouldn’t decide to send out an akuma while the ceremony was held.

Tikki returned soon after Marinette finished unpacking her stuff and they both made their way outside to see the decorations and help out with the preparations.

When she got there, she saw a glimpse of her father helping carry two tables into the garden. Instead of calling out to him, she searched for her mom.

She found her by the entrance of the castle, carrying various sweats and pastries out of the van.

“Tom already brought the cake in, so all we have to do is take the other desserts over to the kitchen fridge.” Silently, Marinette started picking up boxes of treats from the van and followed her mother into the kitchens. She was pleasantly surprised that the kitchens were well maintained, unlike those in certain restaurants. The place looked properly cleaned, with small exceptions that could be pardoned in such a big kitchen.

After about half an hour later, the van was completely emptied and Marinette and her mother went over to help with the decorations. Being close to the bride, Sabine went over to the woman organizing the furniture and the two discussed the arrangements together. Marinette, not wanting to butt in on their conversation, helped various people with moving the furniture to the appropriate place and, occasionally, suggesting a change of the placement or décor.

They took a small break around lunch, to eat and relax for a bit, before going back and managing the details and making sure the staff at the hotel all knew about the wedding and had instructions on what to do. There was still quite a few things to décor, but that would all be finished in time for the wedding the next day.

At 7pm, they took another break to eat dinner and, again, relax. By that time, the majority of the venue was ready for the wedding ceremony. Sabine even sent Marinette away, saying that they’ve got it handled and she could do what she wanted. She helped out for a little while after that with table decorations, before she decided that she really was tired and went into her room.

She passed by a glass door and, with her curiosity taking over, peeked through the glass. She saw a garden; different to the one where the wedding was to be taking place, which was behind the castle. This one was on it’s side, so it seemed. There was a pretty big pool with folded chairs next to it. Since it was so late, she didn’t see anybody else in the pool garden, so she buttoned-up her coat and stepped outside. As she approached the pool, she noticed an archway on the side of it, connected to a stone wall that wrapped around the area of the garden. It was a pathway into another building that belonged to the castle grounds, trees were planted on one side of the sand path, the other being protected by the castle’s wall. She didn’t want to venture further, though. As guests, they had restrictions and she didn’t want to accidentally enter a place where she wasn’t allowed. She turned around, about to head back into her room, when she heard a rustle in the bushes nearby. Startled, she quickly turned around to get inside as quickly as she could – it was already hard to see outside, after all, when she bumped into somebody.

The impact wasn’t strong enough for her to fall over, but it did make her stumble. She began apologizing straight away.

“Oh my go- I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going- I-“ Looking up, she froze in place.

Her first thought was Adrien Agreste.

Why?

Because in front of her stood a boy strangely too similar to her blond classmate.

She would assume it was Adrien further, had she not noticed the distinct differences between the two. For instance, while the boy in front of her had the same shade of golden blond hair as Adrien, they seemed to be a bit longer and combed to the side. His face strangely resembled Adrien’s in the structure, but upon closer look, Marinette could see that he had sharper cheekbones and a more defined jawline. Lastly, the most distinctive feature, his eyes. Instead of green, Marinette stared into a pair of silvery grey eyes.

There was a pause, before Marinette realized the situation they were in and stepped away from him.

“Sorry, I- ” There was another pause, as Marinette took in his appearance. He had a coat on, unbuttoned, and she noticed he wore a formalwear. It was similar to what she saw some of the castle staff wear. Her eyes widened. “-I’m so sorry, I didn’t see any sign that this area was prohibited to guests. Please don’t tell the security, or call your boss, or anything, I was just curious and-”

“Miss, I assure you that you are not in any trouble. This area is indeed available to guests so you do not need to worry.” She sighed out in relief, “Also, I am not an employee.” She stiffened up again, her eyes widening slightly. Great, now she unknowingly insulted him.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I just saw your clothes and assumed- I’m so sorry.” He nodded, a sign that he took her apology. The conversation seemed to end there, which Marinette didn’t mind. The situation was embarrassing enough and she was glad to head back.

The bush moved again, though, which cause both their heads to turn into it’s direction. She saw the stranger move towards it and reach out to it. A moment later, out of the bush emerged a black kitty. It was more of a cat, but still held the resemblance of a kitten, hinting on it’s young age.

“So _that’s_ what was hiding in there. You really startled me, little guy.” Marinette whispered softly, making the kitty wince slightly before cautiously stepping fully out of the bush. Only after the stranger crouched down did Marinette notice a bag in his hand.

She watched as the stranger pulled the contents of the bag out and handed them to the kitty, who was obviously hungry. She smiled subconsciously, admiring the care he showed. Not in a romantic way, though, but Marinette always admired kind and good-hearted people. There weren’t many of them in the world, after all.

She turned around and left the two alone, walking into her own room.

Tikki scolded her only a little bit for wandering off somewhere this dark and alone. She knew that Marinette would hold her own against many people, but it didn’t ease her worry for the young heroine. If something were to happen to her physically after what she had to endure emotionally in school… Well, let’s just say we wouldn’t want another ‘Plagg accidentally uses cataslysm’ event.

She was simply worried.

Marinette returned to her room a little after 8pm, changing into her pajamas and turning on the TV, she grabbed the sketchbook and filled it with the many ideas for designs inspired by the old-fashioned style of the castle.

Her parents came back a little after 10pm, wishing her a good night before heading into their own room to rest. She followed suit and, after setting up a few alarm clocks to wake up in time to prepare for the wedding, she went to sleep.

The morning was hectic. Marinette couldn’t imagine what Nadja must be going through at the time, because she was nervous as hell, _and she wasn’t even the bride._ Her morning started normally, with her daily morning routine.

The wedding starts at 10, or at least, that’s when the vendors arrive to prepare for ceremony setup.

Nadja was already in the castle, having arrived in the middle of the night due to personal reasons, and will probably start getting ready for the wedding soon. Marinette wanted to stop by in case she needed help with the dress or to announce that if something were to happen at any time, she is prepared and to find her.

Stepping out of her room, she noticed that the halls were already busy with people running to prepare for the ceremony. She kept her guard up, evaded any possible collisions with others and made it all the way into Nadja’s dressing room.

Knocking on the door, she heard the voice of her mom yell out “Come in! But if you’re the groom, you’re gonna feel my foot on your back as I kick you out!” Giggling quietly, she entered the room and greeted the women. There was only her mom and Nadja that she recognized, then three other young women, who she assumed were friends of Nadja and probably the other bridesmaids.

Nadja was still out of her dress, and it seemed that the preparations were only starting, as the women were only spreading out hordes of make-up and bottles of nail polish on the table now.

“Good morning, mom. Good morning, Nadja. I hope you’re well rested.” Nadja gave her a sheepish and a little nervous smile.

“I mean, as well as a bride on her wedding day can be.” She smiled at the woman, before her attention was switched to her mom, who faced her suddenly.

“Good morning, sweetie, could you please inform your father that I’ll meet with him at the ceremony? I don’t think I will have enough time to tell him myself, so I would need you to give him this.” She handed her a notebook that she grabbed from a nearby table, “And, please, help him out with setting up the buffet.” Marinette nodded and headed for the door, before pausing.

“Oh, Nadja? If there is any problem, I brought an emergency kit. If anything happens, find me immediately.” Nadja bid her thanks and smiled at her appreciatingly. Marinette nodded again and made her way into the kitchens. She found her father and gave him the notebook, which she found out was filled with notes about certain foods and directions on where to put them.

She helped him out with setting up the buffet table and putting up final decorations on the tables. By then, it was already 11am and the vendors were hard at work with their own preparations. The first guests would arrive around 12 o’clock, so by then, she would have to be ready.

She released her hair from her pigtails and put on her bridesmaid’s dress. With a little bit of Tikki’s help, she managed to zip it up and move on to the hairstyle. She looked herself over in the mirror, deciding on what to do with her hair since the bridesmaid’s weren’t instructed on a specific type of hairstyle to use. She decided to leave it simple and put her hair into a bun, similar to the one she did when she was younger, only slightly different thanks to the difference in her hair length from then and now. Last, she let out a few streaks of hair on the sides of her head to better frame her face.

She felt satisfied with the results, the last thing to decide was whether or not she was going to put makeup on. She wasn’t very skilled with it, since she normally didn’t use it, hence her hesitation to do so. In the end, she used a red lipstick and a little bit of blush. At the very least, her red lipstick would match her red earrings.

When she was finally all done, it was almost 12 o’clock. She was surprised by how long it took her to get ready. She grabbed a small red purse (she silently celebrated that she brought it along just in case), where she put her phone and where Tikki would be hiding for the rest of the day – she didn’t need to bring any more of her stuff, since if she needed anything, it was like a five minute walk to her room. Putting the purse around her shoulder, she went over to her dresser where her bodice and flower crown were, put it on and swiftly left her room.

She arrived around the same time as the first guests did, for she saw a pair dressed in formalwear talking to one of the staff who was pointing towards where the ceremony would be held. She went out of the palace and into the garden, pulling the furry bodice closer to her form once she realized how cold it really was.

She waved at her father, who’s eyes widened when his attention switched to her. As she approached, he warmly greeted her with a hug.

“You look beautiful, darling.” Giggling, she did a 360 before walking over behind the buffet table.

“Thank you, same goes to you.” Her father wasn’t one for formalwear, he claimed that it was stretchy and uncomfortable, so he chose not to wear it unless he really had to. But Marinette had to admit, it did look good on him.

Looking over the notebook her mother provided earlier, she began arranging various items on the list into their stated places. She had no idea why the food had an order in which to be placed, but she didn’t question it. She just did as she was instructed. While she did that, her father kept bringing more and more of the pastries. At one point, Marinette worried that it wouldn’t all fit on the table.

She later found out that there was a secret fridge/freezer under the table, out of the eyes of the guests and easily available for the stuff to resupply the table.

They finished quite fast, not even half an hour later, they were finished and left the table for the staff to resupply when needed. She talked with her dad for a while before he was called by a group of people she didn’t know. By the way he greeted them, though, he seemed to know them quite well. She looked around, searching for a familiar face. Spotting none, she turned towards one of the people struggling with the cables for the lightning and sound. She approached them and offered a helping hand.

Halfway through the work, the guests were invited to head over to where the ceremony was being held, so Marinette bid goodbye to the workers (who thanked her for the help), and headed over to the ceremony stand. The ceremony itself wasn’t going to start right away, Marinette guessed it would take another thirty minutes, but she wanted to be able to relax before the main moment of the day starts. That, and in case she had to quickly run away.

She stood of slightly to the side, by the table where the drinks were served – there was literally a punch bowl like in those high school proms on tv. She opened her purse, checking subtly on Tikki while grabbing her phone and opening the news channel.

While Nadja might be absent for a while and a bunch of her coworkers were attending the wedding, there was plenty of reporters still working and being on call if there was an akuma present. She was glad that she didn’t see any alert for one and would had to hope that it would stay that way for the rest of the day. Putting her phone back, she turned around and decided to drink a little before the ceremony.

She went to pour herself a cup of punch, subtly even asking Tikki if she wanted to try it since she never had any and didn’t know how it tasted.

Meow.

She looked around, quite startled by the sound. Was that a cat she just heard?

Her eyes fell to the ground behind the drink table, where the same black kitty from the day before was hiding. Her eyes softened as it meowed again, it’s voice a bit strained.

“You, again? What are you doing here, little guy? You cannot be here.” A meow was the response she got. Her eyes fell on one of the bottles of water on the table. She grabbed one and approached the kitty. She filled the cap with it and offered it to the kitty. It seemed cautious for a bit, sniffling the cap before drinking the water inside.

After refilling the cup five times, the kitty no longer wanted to drink and only kept looking at Marinette and meowing.

“Perhaps it’s hungry?” She heard a familiar voice behind her, and only then realized that the kitty wasn’t looking at her anymore but at something behind her. Turning around, her eyes widened slightly before going back to normal once she relaxed.

“The buffet table won’t do, the items there seem to all contain chocolate. We might need to ask one of the cooks for a roll.” Marinette nodded while the blond approached the kitty slowly. She watched him interact with it, gently reaching out his hand for the kitty to sniff, before gently picking it up. Marinette wondered if she should let him take care of the kitty alone, but she replayed his sentence in her mind and realized that it held an invitation to come along. And, seeing as the ceremony room was still only half full of people, she came along.

It was a silent walk, something that Marinette found slightly uncomfortable for some reason.

“Sooo,” She started, seeing him slightly turn his head towards her as an indication that she had his attention gave her enough confidence to continue, “you’re a guest of the wedding, too, then.” He turned his head back into it’s original position.

“Yes, it would seem that way.” He responded quite blatantly. It would sound a little on the harsher side, but Marinette didn’t see any emotions of annoyance or anger on the boy’s face, so she assumed he was simply being polite. “Perhaps it was cold, it’s not meowing anymore.”

The two paused to look at the kitty. It seemed comfortable in the man’s arms. As soon as it noticed their eyes on it, it meowed again.

“Or not.” Marinette stated, before pausing. “Are cats even allowed in the castle?”

“Even if they’re not, we are just taking it into the reception before taking it right back outside. It shouldn’t cause any trouble.”

She nodded. The two made their way into the reception, where the man dealt with the receptionist who immediately ran over to inform them about the no pet policy.

Marinette left him alone with the kitty and the receptionist while she went into the kitchen. She asked one of the cooks who she met the day before for some rolls, if they had any. They offered her a baguette on the house and she happily accepted.

When she walked outside, she saw the man patiently waiting by the door outside, with the kitty secured in his arms. She walked over to him and the two walked back outside.

“I wonder what’s going to happen to it.” She wondered out loud. The boy looked at her questioningly. She continued, “I mean.. It’s still just a kitty. And it’s about to be winter and this little thing is clearly homeless.” The boy seemed to ponder over her words for a while.

“Well, you could take it in yourself.” She shook her head at the idea, already knowing too many reasons as to why that was a bad idea.

“I live in a bakery and we cannot have pets inside. The possibility of a cat hair being in one of the products is way too high.” She informed him, which he seemed to nod at.

“Perhaps we can ask around if anybody wants a kitty. One of the guests here might be looking for one.”

“Yeah…”

The two reached the garden with the pool, now occupied with a few of the guests. They walked over to the tree they found the kitty the day before and sat it down. Marinette crushed the baguette and picked out the soft inside of it for the kitty. They sat there for a while, just watching the kitty eat.

“Sorry again about yesterday.” The boy looked her way again, silently. He was not much of a talker, Marinette noticed. Or perhaps he just didn’t feel like making big talk with a stranger. “About bumping into you, I mean.” Suddenly, he made an expression different to the neutral one he wore up until now.

She cursed silently, she probably just made him uncomfortable now or something.

“Oh, that was you?”

Marinette blanched.

_He didn’t remember her!_

She suddenly felt embarrassed again.

_What’s with this place always making me feel like a fool?_

“Heh… Yeah…” The conversation went quiet after that, and Marinette actually thought about just turning around, saying her goodbye and bolting out of there.

“I apologize. I didn’t quite pay much attention to you yesterday. My focus was mainly on the kitten.” She sighed out, at least he was making an effort to lessen the tension.

“Well, let’s drop the topic. I’d rather not relieve that moment again.” The kitty sneezed and their attention was immediately on it.

“We should leave the little guy here for now. We’ll see if it remains here until after the ceremony is over.”

“Yeah.”

The two stood up and walked back into the gardens. The place seemed to be full with guests, most of them were already sitting in their assigned chairs. Marinette paused, unsure if she should stay and converse with the boy or head over to meet up with the other bridesmaids for the walk down the aisle. But, seeing as he didn’t seem to move either, she stayed.

“In what relation are you to Nadja?” She asked, actually curious.

“I am merely an acquaintance. It’s my mother that actually knows Madame Chamack.” He then looked at her in a way that suggested he was asking the same question.

“My mother and her are long-time friends and our families are actually really close.”

“I see.”

Right in that moment, it was announced that the ceremony was about to start. As the rest of the guests started to walk over into their assigned seats, she turned to the boy for the last time.

“I must say, even though our first encounter wasn’t the best, Mademoiselle…”

“Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She smiled kindly.

“Very well, it was very nice meeting you, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng.”

“The pleasure was mine, Monsieur…”

The boy reached out his hand, which Marinette shook gently.

“Felix. Felix Graham de Vanily.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOOEEY, that was A LOT.
> 
> 4850 words baby.
> 
> Anyways, I'm really sorry for not updating. I spent a lot of summer in the hospital due to some health problems and didn't really have much motivation to write at that time. Coming back to school was a literal SLAP in the face since the teachers basically showered us in tests and whatnot, so I didn't really have much time either. 
> 
> But now, I'm home, School's online and I have hundreds of ideas for this fic.
> 
> Also, thank you all so much for your comments and likes. You have no idea how much they all mean to me <3 I hope this chapter lives up to your expactations because *epic music* Our BOY HASS ARRIVED INTO THE SCENE. I'm sorry if he acts a little off. 
> 
> To clear something up, Felix is based off of the fanon version. Also, this Felix did not steal Gabriel's ring. And he also did not dress up as Adrien and team up with an akuma.
> 
> Also, the chapter is unedited, so if you stumble upon any grammar problems or some part of the text doesn't line up or repeats itself, I'm sorry. Please let me know so I can fix it. I wanted to post this for you as soon as possible. 
> 
> I love you all <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ceremony, and the things that come after.

Marinette crossed paths with the groom on her way to the bride’s room. She noticed his nervousness and silently prayed that Nadja was doing better that him. But as much as she hoped, she knew that was in no way the case.

And truly, the first thing her eyes fell upon was Nadja pacing around the room, fully clothed in her wedding gown. Her makeup had been done amazingly, the lipstick matching perfectly with the undertone of the dress. Her eyeshadow just barely visible but still having the effect of making her eyes pop out. She was surprised at how much her new hairstyle changed her complexion. Even though there were not many options on hairstyles since her hair were simply too short for them, the hairstylist managed to make the best out of it.

Instead of the usual gelled-back hair, they were let down to frame her face. They have been curled and brushed, creating a wavy effect to them. Her fringe had also been let down and curled and was now slightly covering her left eye. She had yet to put her veil on.

Her mother’s eyes fell to hers the moment she closed the door and she saw plead coming from them.

Of course, her mother knew that Marinette had been practicing ways to calm oneself down. It was a must for her, seeing as the toxic behavior from many people that were in her life would take it’s toll on her in the form of an akuma. Even one time of being almost akumatized was unacceptable for the young heroine. And, seeing as it happened more than three times, she knew she had to find a way to steady her emotions.

“Nadja? I need you to breathe with me for a while, okay?” Stopping the pacing woman by her arm, she grabbed her by her forearms and faced her.

“Now, in…. And out…. In…. And out…” The woman did as instructed, and although the nerves were still present on her face, she did have a slightly clearer mind. “Close your eyes and imagine…” She said the words she remembered from her very first meditation. It led the person through a wave of calmness that was their mind. It made Marinette forget for a while about everything around her and just breathe with a clear mind. And she hoped it would be the same case for Nadja.

She wasn’t able to proceed with the full version of the meditation, seeing as they had about 5 to 10 minutes to get Nadja and the other bridesmaids in front of the door. She led her through the most important parts she remembered from the video.

It did help a little, and they were able to put the veil on Nadja and lead her to the door without her shaking and worrying out loud.

As they went to their places, Marinette saw who she guessed was Nadja’s father carrying Manon, who was wearing a white dress and carrying a basket with flower petals – fitting the role of a flower girl, over to her mother. She saw them talk for a while and she guessed that he was trying to relieve her stress. She switched her gaze and saw her mom giving her thumbs up from behind the other bridesmaids.

She smiled at her mom and her eyes scanned the Best man the groom chose, before looking over that the groomsman escorting her. She was glad that the boy at least seemed to be of her age. She could tell the boy was nice, at least deep inside. Otherwise, he seemed to be cold and brash. He had been forced into this by his father, he told her. But that’s not saying that he wasn’t a gentleman, no. It was apparent he knew proper etiquette and acted politely to her.

She decided not to push the black-haired boy out of his comfort zone, seeing as he was not the most socializing person out there and was only forced into this by his father. She ended the conversation and focused on the path ahead.

The usual wedding themed song “Here comes the bride” echoed through the walls and the doors began to open. She subconsciously tightened her hold on the groomsman’s arm and put on a smile. Her nerves began to rise as she walked through the doors, seeing all the eyes in the room scanning them.

She took a few deep breaths to calm herself until they reached the altar and stood on their rightful places. A while later, Nadja walked down and she watched the groom’s eyes widen as his mouth slightly opened in awe. Marinette’s heart warmed at seeing the love in his eyes as Nadja and her father made their way to the altar.

She sighed and wondered, would there ever be somebody looking at her that way?

\--

“You may now kiss the bride.” As soon as the newlywed couple kissed, cheers erupted from the crowd. The ceremony reached it’s end and it was time for the cocktail hour. While the bride and groom had their pictures taken by the photographer, the guests were free to roam the castle and chat once more with others. The only restriction being the area where the groom and the bride were being photographed. Unless the photographer allowed their presence, nobody was to interfere with the photos.

Nobody wanted to fuck with the photographer and face their wrath.

Thankfully, there was more than just one photographer at the wedding, for the guests to be able to request photos of their own from the wedding. A few of them did so and headed over to the small portable studio right after the newlyweds disappeared around the corner.

One of those guests, was Marinette with her family.

It wasn’t everyday that they were invited to a wedding. That the whole family was invited, that is, and could actually enjoy the fun of it all. Orders and working there was one thing, family and memories another.

The parents stood behind the young girl, posing as they were instructed by the photographer. They already took their photos with the bride and the groom before they were taken away for private photos, so they were only going to take family photos now.

Marinette decided to go take a look at the kitty while her parents took the photos into their room to put them away before the annual wedding entertainment started. She arrived and found the kitty sleeping in between the bushes. She would’ve worried if it was alive, had it not been for the rising of it’s chest indicating peaceful sleep. She headed back to finally start finding somebody who might be up for taking care of it.

As she walked back, she spotted Felix standing by the photographer, probably waiting for his turn for the photos. He stood alone, though, which seemed weird to Marinette. She shrugged it off and approached him. He noticed her approaching figure right away and turned around to face her.

“Sorry for intruding, but have you found somebody willing to take care of the kitten?” He shook his head. He probably didn’t have time, since the ceremony ended just a few minutes ago, but it was better to ask.

“Alright, I’m going to ask some people I know around here. If you find anybody, let me know so we don’t accidentally promise it to two people at the same time.”

He nodded and the conversation seemed to stop there. Marinette turned around and walked away, asking a few people standing by about the little guy.

Marinette did not find anybody by the time the first wedding game started, which kind of saddened her, but she would continue with her search later. It was game time.

Only a small group of people participated, mainly those slightly closer to the couple. Quite a few people has left the wedding due to personal reasons, so the overall number of guests was also decreased drastically. Those who remained seemed to be the ones closer to the family, not just acquaintances.

The first was a game for the newlyweds, the shoe game. The Bride and the Groom sit back to back and exchange a shoe. One of the bridesmaids then begins asking various questions like “Who would let the other turn them into a zombie if they got infected?” and the couple raises a hand with the shoe of the one who would be more likely to do so.

It was a fun game, seeing the two couples playfully banter when both of them had different answers.

A couple more games occurred, and Marinette was thankful that she only had to participate in three of them. They were then invited for dinner while the couple takes some photos outside illuminated by the various lights in the night.

Her family ended up sitting at the table next to the newlyweds and their families. They played one last game before dinner was served; but it was more of a quick entertainment before food. A mere sheet of paper hid underneath every plate, each having different trivia questions about the couple. The table that had the most answers right would be given a gift of sorts; a wine, a trip, who knows.

Her family didn’t participate, instead choosing to talk about how the night went so far and overall about any topic that came to mind. They didn’t chat long before the close guests of the bride and groom stood up to bid their toasts for the couple.

Marinette had a few tears in her eyes when all was said, especially once her mother stood to congratulate and do her speech. All the things the people said were so touching. The bride and the groom were obviously touched the most. Marinette saw Nadja wipe her tears many times, while her husband tried to fight them off (He nearly lost).

Cake was cut, dinner was served and everybody was happy.

The dinner was over by the time 19 o’clock rolled around, and it was time for the newlyweds’ first dance. Marinette awed at how cute the pair looked, with Manon joining them a little after. The three dancing together as a family, that was truly beautiful. She was happy for them. She saw her father and who she guessed was Nadja’s mother nod at each other, courtesy and join the couple on the dance floor. The song ended and the pair switched and danced with their parents. Marinette saw that both parties were conversing and it seemed to be an extension of their speeches, if their touched looks were anything to go by.

After another song change, the pairs were back together. Nadja with her husband, and their parents with their own significant others. Soon, more people began to fill the dance floor, including her own parents. She watched the lovely pairs dance and her heart swelled with warmth.

Places like these, filled with love, were the very things that made Marinette think about her own life. Her thoughts wandered off towards her own future again. She couldn’t help but imagine herself with her own significant other one day, dancing together while their families and friends are watching. The face of her significant other might’ve been blank in her fantasy, but so what. Hopefully, one day, she would have a face to fill in.

Her thought wandered all the way back into her mind. So far back, that she thought about Adrien. She once imagined him to be the one to fill the blank face. But she knew now that that was never going to happen.

Even if he somehow decided that he liked her or something.

_Although_ , she thought, _would I be standing here, thinking the same, if Lila hadn’t come around and played with their minds?_ Thinking about it, it was because of Lila that she figured out her friends didn’t actually trust her. It was because of Lila that she realized how she was being used for having connections and making free things. It was because of Lila that she saw them all in a completely new light.

It was because of her she had to toughen up and face the real world.

_No_ , she shook her head, getting rid of the emotions that were starting to rise up, _enough of that. You’re not going to think about them today._ Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind of the previous inner monologue and headed over to her table with the intend to do the trivia questions and drink some champagne (non-alcoholic, of course) since she had nothing else to do. Halfway through the room, though, she noticed a flock of blond hair. Switching her direction, she made her way over to one of the pillars that held the second floor and, coincidentally, also held the body of the blonde that was leaning against it.

“Any luck finding an adopter?” His gaze switched over to her before going back to scanning the dance floor and the people around.

“Sadly, none of the people my mother and I associate with wish to be caretakers. Any luck on your side?” The girl only shook her head and joined the boy in scanning the crowd.

“Sooo…” Felix raised an eyebrow at her. “Enjoying the wedding so far?” He stared at her questioningly for while before deciding to speak.

“It’s not terrible. I’ve been to a few before and just like this one, they were merely out of business purposes.” Marinette was the one to raise an eyebrow now.

“I though you said your mother was a coworker of hers.”

“Indeed. But I do not know Madame Chamack personally. My mother has been taking me to various formal events to get me acquainted with the proper etiquette and to socialize.” Marinette nodded. She had to agree with his mother, etiquette was better learnt through experience rather than just taught out of the book.

“I must ask, though. Why did you choose to spend your time talking to me rather than spending it with your friends and family?” She didn’t like the way he was looking at her. He seemed somehow on edge, suspicious even. Why, she did not know.

“My parents are dancing right now and other than them and the bride, I don’t really know anybody here.” He stared at her for a while before his shoulders slightly relaxed and his glare changed to a look of indifference.

“Very well, then.”

The two stood in silence once again, silence that felt uncomfortable for Marinette.

“Do you like going to social events like these?” It was a desperate attempt at a conversation, but Marinette would take what her mind could come up with. He seemed to not want to talk about his private life, so she didn’t want to intrude his privacy. He would probably not answer her anyway.

“Not particularly. But they do occasionally provide me with useful connections. If I could choose, though, I would rather stay home.”

“Yeah, these kinds of things aren’t fun when you don’t know anybody.”

“Rather, I could be doing much more productive things at home than here.”

“Right.”

The conversation paused there, much to Marinette’s dismay. She could either try to continue the conversation that so far seemed to be one-wayed, or just continue with her previous plans and sit at her table filling out the trivia questions.

She was about to head out, when she heard him sigh. Glancing his way, she saw him rubbing his temples.

“Something wrong?”

“…No, not at all… “ She raised an eyebrow, silently telling him to continue “You should leave.” Marinette’s eyes widened, before saddening. Although a stranger, his words hurt. Was she this bad at making friends? If so, how the hell was she supposed to make friends at her new school? She certainly didn’t want it to be the same as in Dupont, where she was a loner until… No. No more thinking like that.

“Oh… Alright.” She shot him a small smile, at which he sighed again.

“Look, I didn’t mean to sound harsh. But if you don’t leave now, you’re gonna have to deal with my mother. And trust me, you don’t want the headache from her interrogation.” The slight ping in her chest from before vanished with her understanding.

“Oh.” So, he didn’t actually want her to leave because she was bothering him.

…Hopefully.

Well, might as well take the risk now.

“Well, wanna spare _yourself_ the headache?” He raised an eyebrow, while glancing in the direction he was looking before. His mother was probably really close. She gestured to the dance floor with her eyes, hoping to get the message across.

“That would only bring me an even bigger headache afterwards.”

“Probably, but you will be prepared, at least. And you might even come up with an excuse”

He smirked.

“Well, you do present a convincing case.” Pushing himself from the pillar, he came to stand face to face with Marinette. She watched him reach his arm out to her.

“So, care to dance?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably mention that,
> 
> I've never been to a wedding before.


End file.
